Shawna Woodward

Purchasing a CSRA home is a huge life commitment. It can be a beneficial endeavor that brings wealth and happiness to you and your family. Conversely, one mistake in the buying process can be detrimental to you, your loved ones, and your wallet. Unfortunately, the horror stories about home purchases that went catastrophic are abundant. First off, please never purchase a home without having a qualified home inspector inspect the property. Too many times people forgo a home inspection (sometimes not knowing any better) and just weeks after moving in

Zillow is a big deal in Real Estate. They have a great platform that keeps up with all the active and pending listings from all the real estate boards nationwide. They keep the public informed with historical data and pictures of homes. For the most part, I feel like they add value to a very overwhelming space in the market. I have recommended their searching platform to countless buyers over the years and have adapted my business, knowing that to be successful, I need to see the value it brings

As promised from last week, I wanted to share with you what building a custom home entails. First off, you need to speak to a great lender and find out if you can qualify for construction to permanent financing. If you do not qualify, you need to know what mortgage you do qualify for. If you can do a construction to permanent mortgage then you will save money. If you can only qualify for a mortgage loan, it will cost more to build because you will be paying the expense

Let’s talk about new construction homes. Buyers often prefer to buy a new home or would like to build their dream home. There are a few ways you can buy or build a new home here in the CSRA and I wanted to give you a brief explanation. One option would be to buy what I consider a national builders development. Here you have one specific builder, building all across the country. In these developments you can typically walk through model homes and choose what you want to build, the

As the end of October approaches, I thought now would be a good time to talk about the value of a community with great amenities. I know there will always be some people who only want to live where there are no rules and no neighbors, however for the most part, people want to buy a home in a good area that will maintain or appreciate in value. Historically the “best” locations will typically be in a top rated school district near you. This seems to be a wise investment

Are you old enough to have experienced buying a home in 1980 something? Since I was so young in the 80’s I missed out on those special times. According to an article I read online, “The early ’80s saw particularly high rates, with the 30 year mortgage reaching a peak of 18.63 percent in October 1981, according to data from the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis.” (marketplace.org, Oct.12, 2018) While most of us have relatively low mortgage rates today, I wanted to encourage anyone who acquired a mortgage in 2010 or

This is a popular question the public finds perplexing. Do you have an out once you have signed a contract with a broker to buy or to sell a home? Before I answer that question, let me do a quick explanation of what it means to be a Realtor. If you are working with a true Real- tor who is a member of the National Association of Realtors or NAR for short, your agent is held to very strict ethical standards. NAR’s website states that the code of ethics was

I hope that you are excited about the seasons changing and the cooler weather trying to creep in. I feel like we are all desperately longing for the normalcy we had pre-Covid. I for one, embrace the fact that Lowe’s has all the Christmas decor on display and I have been most proactive with all things fall. And while I love to talk about designing and decorating, I want to talk about your grass. Interesting transition, right? Many in the CSRA think that because the grass growing season is slowing

Happy Fall! What an amazing spring and summer we have survived in real estate. So many buyers and sellers are hoping for a reprieve, so I figure it is time for a quick market update. Currently in the entire CSRA we have 982 residential properties listed for sale and 1,932 homes are pending sale. This means that a buyer has made an offer that the seller accepted, and the buyer and seller are working towards completion of the sale, also known as a closing. The average listed price per square

As a Realtor, I answer a lot of questions about money and one of the most common concerns people discuss with me is credit worthiness. Credit is essentially your adult report card on the subject of financial commitment. It will disclose exactly how responsible you are with following through. I want to say a few things that maybe no one has said to you before. First off, you will only have a credit report score if you have borrowed money, or if you owe money that you did not pay,